Former CNN Managing Editor Mark Whitaker, who announced his resignation Tuesday, loved the panel format because he desired the show to have the same buzz as MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” But Jautz hated the panel, resulting in it being downsized from 7-9 a.m. to 7:30 to 9 a.m. And when Soledad was off, the panel was only on from 8-9 a.m…

Many staffers were stunned when Feder constantly complained that the viewership of “Early Start” and “Starting Point” was “too ethnic,” based on the high concentration of minority viewers. This common complaint worked itself up through the company, to CNN’s Diversity Committee, and to other staffers, who were mortified that a CNN executive was squabbling over attracting minority viewers.

To think, on the very day that O’Brien was all but accusing Joel Pollak of racism for objecting to Critical Race Theory, CNN honchos might have been having the “too ethnic” conversation in the executive washroom. Although I wonder if the most revealing bit in the excerpt is the half-assed idea that the difference in buzz between O’Brien’s show and “Morning Joe” is … the panel format. Does anyone smarter than the CNN programming trust actually believe that? Scarborough gets buzz because (a) he’s a former congressman who knows heavy hitters in Washington and does terrifically well at getting them to come on the show and (b) he’s a Republican who’s best known for criticizing Republicans, which the media always deeply respects. What’s more buzzworthy, a panel featuring Soledad talking to random CNN contributors about the budget or a panel featuring a former GOP representative telling the press what it wants to hear about how the NRA is going to destroy the Republican Party? C’mon.